So yes, a month ago I said, “enough is enough, I am sick of looking at you” and told my husband it must be moved. He did look at me a little sideways though as I know he thought that could only mean more work for him. I assured him it was not going to be a large move, just across the yard and up the ridge where the notorious Scotch broom once resided (and is attempting its return I might add).
Now that the compost has settled in to its new home (and I am not too sure if I like it there either…just please don’t mention this to my husband) I am faced with this sort of humus and worm filled 12 foot long crater in the back of the yard. I have eyed this crater for weeks now and decided my pumpkin and melon seedlings would enjoy spending the summer growing there. There is plenty of room back there for them to sprawl all they want and I know the ground is nice and fertile thanks to my wiggly worm friends and the generous amounts of fertilizer my two rabbits provide.
That brings me back to what caused me to do a double take. I spotted the other day, coming up right smack in the middle of the compost crater, a squash seedling of some sort. It looks an awful like the zucchini seedlings I have been growing for the last three years in this garden. My confusion has to do with the fact that I never allowed any zucchinis to get enormous last year to where they could possibly produce viable seeds. In fact last year’s zucchini was pathetic thanks to them being swallowed up by towering cosmos.
So where did this little seed come from and what exactly is it? It is quite the mystery and a rather exciting one to a gardener like me that gets into unexpected seedlings emerging from nowhere. My only dilemma is the question of letting it live in squash harmony with my pumpkin and melon babies or giving it the boot. I think I would like to let it stay and see what it grows into. If I was interested in saving seeds I would probably be worried about cross pollination and I would then certainly want to yank it up. But seeing that I am not too interested in saving seed from my squashes, melons, peppers, and tomatoes this year (I couldn’t possibly give them the room they need to prevent cross pollination) I might as well let it stay and reveal itself to us as the growing season progresses.
As you can see in its picture taken just today, it is doing quite well and appears even happier than my coddled little seedlings. Go figure.
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